Collaborative Working Newsletter - December 2008

Welcome to the December issue of the NCVO Collaborative Working Newsletter.

The need to achieve more with less, will become increasingly important as the economic downturn affects the sector.  Working collaboratively is one way to do this and this was highlighted at NCVO’s third annual Collaborative Working Conference held in London on 22 October.

“Charities that diversify their funding streams, collaborate with partners and get their income strategy right are more likely to weather the current economic crisis and emerge financially secure on the other side”  Stuart Etherington CEO of NCVO.

This issue of the newsletter sees the timely launch of our new guide to collaborative working to generate income and there is news of a new funding initiative to support collaborative projects.  You can also read about two major new collaborations in the voluntary sector.

The next issue of the newsletter will be sent out at the beginning of February, so if you have any news to share please email it to us at: collaborate@ncvo-vol.org.uk

In the meantime, the Collaborative Working and ICT Team would like to wish you a very happy holiday season.

If you have received this newsletter from a colleague, you can join the Collaborative Working mailing list by sending your contact details to collaborate@ncvo-vol.org.uk 

Collaborative Working News

• New NCVO publication: Collaborative working to generate income
• Age Concern and Help the Aged merger
• RNIB and Action for Blind People to become an “Associate Charity.”  
• Third Annual Collaborative Working Conference – London October 2008
• Futurebuilders launches new fund to encourage consortia
• Free support for partnership working 

Other News

• The NCVO Annual Conference 2009 – Workshop on international collaboration
• Voluntary Norfolk – Third Sector Guide for Commissioning
• A Collective Vision for Rural Britain - Ruralnet launches online consultation

Collaborative Working News

New! – Collaborative working to generate income

This new publication from NCVO’s Collaborative Working Team and Sustainable Funding Project introduces different ways of working with other organisations to generate income. Subjects covered include fundraising events, joint trading, payroll giving through consortia, legacy giving and appeals. A range of case studies illustrate voluntary and community sector experience of joint fundraising activities.

Read the publication Collaborative working to generate income  

For a free hard copy email collaborate@ncvo-vol.org.uk or call 020 7520 2440.

Collaborative working stories in the news - Age Concern and Help the Aged to merge:

The merger of Age Concern and Help the Aged will be the biggest in the voluntary sector since Cancer Research UK was created in 2002.  The process has been a long and sometimes difficult one; read an interview with the chairs of both organisations on the Thirdsector website. 

Read more on merger. 

RNIB and Action for Blind People announce ‘Associate Charity’ model 

Lesley-Anne Alexander, chief executive of RNIB, said: "We've come up with an innovative way of working that means we can build on the strength of both of our respective organisations while joining forces to be stronger and more effective". Read more at Thirdsector website.

Read more on national organisations with local groups. 

3rd Annual Collaborative Working Conference held in London

Once again, our annual collaborative working conference was well attended and well received.  

Against the backdrop of a worsening economic outlook Stuart Etherington CEO of NCVO welcomed delegates to a day dedicated to exploring how collaboration can enable organisations to achieve more. 

Sessions explored the many practical ways in which organisations can increase their efficiency and offer new or improved services to their beneficiaries through working in partnerships. 

Workshops covered collaborative tendering for and delivering, public service contracts; sharing HR services; using Web 2.0 technologies to work collaboratively; merger; associate charity models and joint fundraising and project delivery. 

As usual participants were able to network and share their ideas and experiences. A conference report will be available on the website shortly.

Futurebuilders launches new fund to encourage consortia

Futurebuilders England today officially launched a new fund specifically for consortia groups aiming to work together to win public service contracts.

The Consortia Fund offers bespoke investment packages comprising loan finance and professional support, individually tailored to suit the needs of the consortium. There is no upper limit to the size of investment, but the minimum investment package is £50,000.

To be eligible for investment from the fund, the consortium must have the groundwork of the consortia structure in place, possess the potential to win contracts to deliver public services and have a specific contract, or contracts, in mind.

The organisation applying for investment can be the lead body of the consortium or a separate entity that has been created to manage it.

Jonathan Lewis, Chief Executive of Futurebuilders England said: 

“We want to encourage third sector organisations to work together to win contracts to deliver public services and the Consortia Fund is just one way of doing this. It is part of our initiative to help the third sector develop market power.

“The fund was established in response to feedback from the sector, which showed that many organisations would value a fund specifically for consortia, so we hope it will be very successful.”

For the purpose of the Consortia Fund, consortia are defined as two or more organisations that enter into a formal agreement, or form a separate entity, to jointly bid for and deliver public service contracts.

There is no closing date for applications. For more information about the fund, including how to apply, please visit www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk.

Free support for partnership working

Do you offer advice as part of your service? Are you currently involved in collaborative working, or thinking about it?

Whatever stage you’re at, the Enhancing Frontline Advice team - part of the Big Lottery funded Working Together for Advice project - can offer independent, practical support to help you. Our team of Development Consultants across England can help you to make the links with organisations local to you, and can apply our knowledge of successful partnerships from across the country to your situation. We can offer up to five days’ consultancy work for individual organisations and up to eight days of support to set up local forums and referral networks.

To start benefiting from this support, contact your regional Development Consultant:

• jacquie.howell@adviceuk.org.uk (North of England)
  0161 212 1580
• sarah.collins@adviceuk.org.uk (Midlands & Cheshire)
  0161 212 1581
• dal.warburton@adviceuk.org.uk (South West & Central)
  01865 403138
• anjila.sinha@adviceuk.org.uk (London & South East)
  0207 407 6622

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Other News

Workshop on International Collaboration at this year’s NCVO Annual Conference.

NCVO Annual Conference  London 18 February 2009,
Civil Society: Building trust in uncertain times

Join 650 sector colleagues at NCVO's flagship Annual Conference to hear from high-profile and influential speakers including US political theorist and author, Dr Benjamin Barber. Learn and debate in interactive workshops; benefit from direct and personalised support sessions, and make great new contacts to help strengthen your organisation.

Collaborative Working Workshop:

This year’s conference includes a session exploring the potential of international collaborative working, and the new technologies which can make it happen.  Speakers include:

Ariane Rodert, Vice President of CEDAG (the European Council for non-profit organisations)

Ariane is the EU Policy Advisor for Forum for Voluntary Social Work - the platform for social voluntary organisations in Sweden, as well as for Famna – the Swedish umbrella organisation for non-profit health care and social service providers.  She is also a member of the advisory board for AVSO, the European organisation for voluntary services. Ariane is based in Brussels since 2004 and works in the EU policy areas of civil dialogue, social services and social policy.

Rob Jackson, Director of Development and Innovation, Volunteering England. 

Rob writes, speaks and trains on volunteer programme management internationally and is active in a variety of ways within the UK volunteering sector.  He has pioneered the use of the Internet as a means of networking amongst managers of volunteers and volunteer programmes using social networking technology.  He is the convening editor for e-volunteerism.com’s keyboard roundtables and has collaborated on the production of an e-book, ‘How To Turn Your Organisation Into A Volunteer Magnet” now available as a free download.

The event sells out every year so book now and ensure you get your early bird discount!

Visit: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/annualconference09 
call 020 7520 3160
or email: annual.conference@ncvo-vol.org.uk 

Voluntary Norfolk – Third Sector Guide for Commissioning

This new guide from Voluntary Norfolk has been primarily written for Norfolk's public sector partners but will be just as useful to public sector bodies outside of the county. Third sector organisations, particularly those delivering public services, are also likely to find it of interest as a means of assessing what good practice in commissioning can look like. 

It is available as free download from their website:
www.voluntarynorfolk.org.uk/thirdsectorguide.php

A Collective Vision for Rural Britain in 2020

What will rural Britain look like in 2020?  Simon Berry, Chief Executive of ruralnet|uk wants to know and is taking an innovative approach to find out.  He is asking people to contribute their thoughts and ideas online at a new website launched today; www.2020vision.ruralnet.org.uk

“We want to do this collectively because many heads are better than one or two – and there is a great deal of significance to something that has been created by hundreds of people.  Visions can inspire and motivate – and they can inform policy and influence strategy.  This is an opportunity for people to contribute to a collective vision for rural Britain – something quite unique and special.”

Simon is encouraging people to consider things that we’d like to see change; things we’d want to preserve and things we don’t have now that we’d like to have in the future.  Add your thoughts by following the link above.

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